//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: The Full Story Part Two // Story: The Goddess Inside Us All // by That_G3_Obsessive //------------------------------// "The full story?" I asked, mouth agape. Everypony else was looking shocked as well. First, Rarity had come back, and now she was going to tell us some weird story right off the bat? Rarity simply nodded. "But first, how about a little supper? I'm starving." "What did those darn humans do to you, girl?" demanded Applejack. "Actually, one of them let me go if I promised to let her come to Equestria," Rarity said. "And you did?" Applejack snapped. Nodding again, Rarity sat down and started munching on some of the food we brought. I sat down next to her, settling my wing comfortingly across her shoulder. I didn't understand how she could be so calm after what she must have gone through. If it had been me, I would have been mentally scarred for life. Rarity says that she probably is mentally scarred for life. I guess that she just doesn't show it as much as I do. "So what happened to you?" I said softly. "Well, I stawted off twapped in da pen--" "Swallow first, silly!" Pinkie giggled. "Sowwy," she said, grinning sheepishly. Swallowing, she tried again. "Well, I started off trapped in the pen. Then one of the humans--a little filly--walked up to the gate and sat there staring at me. When I trotted up to her and said hello, she acted surprised to hear me talking. She explained how the other ponies couldn't talk like I could, nor were any of them unicorns. "She said that her name was Molly, and she and her two siblings used to go to a place called Dream Valley, and meet all of their pony friends. She mentioned a few of them, Gusty, Posey, Fizzy, and Shady. Anyways, she said that she had always wanted to go back to their friends, but now that her siblings were older, they say that ponies are for little girls and that they imagined all of their adventures together. "I offered to let her come back and meet me in Ponyville, and then she let me go. And then I found you guys," she finished. I was stunned. Rarity had gone through all that in about ten hours? And poor Molly! I wondered who Gusty, Fizzy, Posey, and Shady were. Suddenly, I gasped. "What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Do you see something?" She flew off to check the bushes across the campsite. "N-no," I stammered. "Then why did you gasp?" Twilight said. "I just remembered something--a dream." "Well, tell us all about it!" Rarity exclaimed. Everypony was staring at me. "W-well, you know how Rainbow Dash had a dream where her alicorn visited her and told her about her life if Fidelity hadn't chosen her as a host?" "You mean you had one of those, too?" Rainbow said, grinning. "I'm glad I'm not losing my marbles!" "You and Fluttershy could both be going crazy!" Pinkie pointed out. "Oh." Rainbow's mood immediately deflated. "Well, go on, tell us about your dream," Twilight encouraged, smiling gently. "Uh... well, Benevolentia kind of... turned me into an earth pony." "You're kiddin'!" Applejack interrupted. "Princess Celestia did say that an alicorn spirit could change the race of the host," Twilight said thoughtfully. "Otherwise, I stayed the same, except for my cutie mark, which turned into three flowers," I continued. "She said that I would have been a gardener instead of an animal caretaker, and that my name would have been... Posey," I whispered. "I'm sorry, darling, could you say that again?" Rarity asked. "For a second I thought you said 'Posey'!" "I did," I squeaked. Rarity started shaking her head. "You mean to say... that you were goin' to be the pony that that filly, Molasses or somethin'--" "Molly," Rarity corrected. "Whatever. You mean to say that you were goin' to be one of those ponies?" Applejack asked in disbelief. I nodded. "Oooh, I wonder who's gonna get the dream next?" Pinkie squealed. "I hope it's me! Maybe I'll be Shady! Or Gusty! Or--" "Speaking of which, who were you going to be again, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked. "Somepony named Firefly," Rainbow said. "Molly didn't mention any 'Firefly'," Rarity said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something lurking in the bushes near where Pinkie Pie was bouncing excitedly, comparing which name sounded the best to herself. It looked like a black snake, but as I took a closer look, it was more like a tendril of smoke, creeping steadily toward Pinkie's hooves. It was darker than the blackest night, and as I stared at it, a cold feeling snaked up my neck, and I felt like all the happiness was being sucked from my body. "Fluttershy, what's wrong?" Rarity asked me. "You're cold as ice!" That snapped me from my trance. "Pinkie!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Look out!" She jumped out of the way just as the smoke struck, right where she had been standing a moment earlier. As it retreated back into the fern brush, I could see the dirt where it had landed was black and smoking. I cringed at the thought of what could have happened to Pinkie Pie. "What was that?" Twilight exclaimed. "I don't know, but whatever it was, I think that we should move on," Rainbow said in a shaking voice. "Pinkie, are you all right?" I asked. As she looked up from staring at the patch of blackened earth, I could see that her pupils had shrunk to the size of pinpricks, and were filled to the brim with fear. "Y-yeah.." she said. "L-let's go, before that t-thing comes back." "Come on, we've already packed your things," Rarity said gently. As I got up, I had a feeling that something was missing from the group, but I couldn't place it. It doesn't really matter, I thought. "Hey, Rarity, as we walk, could you tell us that full story thing that you mentioned before we started getting into that identity stuff?" Rainbow Dash said from above. "Oh, right, of course." She snapped from some kind of trance and cleared her throat. "Well, Liberalis is going to be feeding me these words, so this is news for me, too. I suppose we should start at the beginning... "A long time ago, before Discord's reign, the Crystal Empire, or even the events of Hearth's Warming Eve, there was nothing. Just a dark ocean of pure chaos. No sun, no moon, no stars, and definitely no ponies. Until, out of the sea, walked two ponies; the two great alicorns, the King and Queen. Together, they used their magic to lift land out of the water, harmony out of chaos. They crafted the sun and moon to give the land light, and ponies to walk on it. All of these ponies had both wings and horns. This was the golden age of the world. "There were creatures other than ponies that the alicorns created, too. There were only ten ponies in all the earth, and they were very lonely. The Queen loved the ponies very much, so she created other animals to keep them company. With the animals being the embodiment of Harmony, the forces of Chaos tried to create animals to match Imperia's. They created the draconiqui, creatures with all of the traits of the Queen's animals, and with an evil attitude to match. "The draconiqui invaded the ponies' land, sparking a great war between the two species. The main warriors were the six ponies who served as King and Queen's personal guards; AKA us. All of the alicorns and draconiqui killed themselves off in the war; except for the King and Queen's children, Celestia and Luna, and Discord, who was the son of the draconiquus leader, Eris. "Celestia and Luna became the princesses of the world, later named Equestria, and lived happily together. At least, up until the night Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon. "Now, as you all already know, the alicorns' spirits were transferred into different hosts. However, the King and Queen's spirits' were much too powerful for a normal pony to take in; they'd burn up on the spot. They needed true alicorns from the past to take as their hosts. The Queen chose Celestia and the King chose Luna. "Up until Luna's transformation, the King and Queen were happy and content staying in their daughters' bodies; they would give them advice on how to rule the kingdom. But when Luna started feeling resentment and jealousy towards Celestia, the King's feelings mirrored her's. He started hating the Queen and Celestia just as Luna did, and when she finally transformed, he turned into a monster, too. He built his own body and escaped Luna just as she was banished into the moon... and wasn't heard from since." We all waited for more, but Rarity remained silent. "So that's it, then?" Rainbow Dash demanded. Rarity nodded. "Liberalis doesn't know anymore." "Are you sure you don't know anything else?" Twilight asked. Rarity hesitated a moment, then nodded again. Twilight didn't seem to notice her bite her lip right afterwords. I raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't pry anymore. "So... now what?" Pinkie Pie asked. Ever since the attack, she had remained silent, though she didn't lag behind. Now her voice was unsure, even scared. I didn't know what to think of that. "We need to find where this villain's lair is," Twilight said. "Then we can defeat him with the Elements of Harmony and send him back to whatever dark abyss he came from." Again, I had the feeling that we had forgotten something, stronger than before. I realized that the familiar weight around my neck was missing as I turned around to look back at the path. I gasped loudly. "The Elements are gone!"